Until 13 May 1961, the Soviet Union had officially (albeit secretly) been working on a project to built a spacecraft armed with a nuclear weapon which would be sent to be detonated on the surface of the moon. The project also called for the creation of the appropriate device to record the detonation, presumably toContinueContinue reading “1961: Communist Party Drops Plans to Nuke Moon, Expands Defensive Space Opportunities”
Tag Archives: nuclear weapons
1960: Soviet Intelligence Creates Pre-Election Political Profile of John F. Kennedy
The following translation is that of a 1960 profile of then-candidate John F. Kennedy, drafted by the Soviet intelligence organs to ensure the political leadership of the USSR was kept abreast of the man who would soon become President of the United States. While it’s no secret that intelligence agencies across the world compile psychologicalContinueContinue reading “1960: Soviet Intelligence Creates Pre-Election Political Profile of John F. Kennedy”
Report on Effect of Blast from First Soviet Nuclear Bomb on Animals
On 30 August 1949, one day after the Soviet Union successfully detonated its first nuclear bomb, Avetik Ignatyevich Burnazyan, Deputy Minister of Health of the USSR, filed a report to Lavrentiy Beria on preliminary findings from data retrieved on more than 1500 animals purposely exposed to the explosion and radiation. As expected, the reading isContinueContinue reading “Report on Effect of Blast from First Soviet Nuclear Bomb on Animals”
From Russia With Angst – Someone Else’s Deal: What Russia Wants From the US-Iran Nuclear Deal – Carnegie Politika
One last fresh Carnegie Politika article that we felt were worth translating and posting. Hope you enjoy them. Back to the standard fare tomorrow. Someone Else’s Deal: What Russia Wants From the US-Iran Nuclear Deal Moscow is not thrilled about the prospect of sanctions on Tehran being lifted, but if a deal is inevitable, itContinueContinue reading “From Russia With Angst – Someone Else’s Deal: What Russia Wants From the US-Iran Nuclear Deal – Carnegie Politika”
Project “Enormoz” Update: 1944 NKVD Report on Foreign Nuclear Weapon Programs Using Input from Spies Abroad
On 5 November 1944, the head of the Soviet NKVD Foreign Intelligence Directorate, Pavel Mikhaylovich Fitin, disseminated a Top Secret report on global advances in the field of nuclear weapon developments. The list of addressees for the report is not included in the material, but given the level of detail and the highly sensitive natureContinueContinue reading “Project “Enormoz” Update: 1944 NKVD Report on Foreign Nuclear Weapon Programs Using Input from Spies Abroad”
Closing In: Beria’s 1942 Report to Stalin on Allied Advances in Building the Bomb
In March 1942, Lavrentiy Beria penned a Top Secret internal report for Josef Stalin regarding recent advances by a number of non-Soviet countries (England, France, Germany, and the US) in trying to achieve nuclear fission as a new power source. These research efforts have, in turn, spawned interest in seeing how this new science couldContinueContinue reading “Closing In: Beria’s 1942 Report to Stalin on Allied Advances in Building the Bomb”
Cuban Missile Crisis, Document 32
29 October 1962 / Enciphered cable from Havana, from Alekseyev on his conversation with Fidel Castro TOP SECRET Reproduction prohibited Copy No. 12 6216/sh 30/X/62 Enciphered Cable [Translator’s note: Distribution for this cable is as follows: Brezhnev, Voronov, Kirilenko, Kozlov, Kosygin, Kuusinen, Mikoyan, Podgornyy, Polyanskiy, Suslov, Khrushchev, Khrushchev, Shvernik, Grishin, Rashidov, Mazurov, Mzhavanadze, Shcherbitskiy, Demichev,ContinueContinue reading “Cuban Missile Crisis, Document 32”
Cuban Missile Crisis, Document 28
27 October 1962 / Order from Malinovskiy to Pliyev forbidding use of nuclear weapons without order from Moscow TOP SECRET (when filled in) Reproduction prohibited To TsK KPSS, Comrade A.K. SEROV COPY OF OUTGOING TELEGRAM No. 20076 TROSTNIK to Comrade PAVLOV Re: No. 8/154 It is expressly confirmed that employing nuclear weapons fromContinueContinue reading “Cuban Missile Crisis, Document 28”
Cuban Missile Crisis, Document 9
8 September 1962 / Instructions to the Commander of the Group of Soviet Forces in Cuba on the delivery of Il-28 airplanes and Luna installations TO THE COMMANDER OF THE GROUP OF SOVIET FORCES IN CUBA In order to reinforce the Group of Soviet Forces in Cuba and increase the capability to combat enemyContinueContinue reading “Cuban Missile Crisis, Document 9”
Translating History 